Berlin - Sinfonie einer Großstadt

Summary

Berlin Symphony

"I think most people who feel a rush of excitement watching my Berlin film don′t know where it′s coming from. If I managed to give people a sense of that excitement, of allowing them to experience the city of Berlin, then I achieved what I set out to do and proved that I was right all along." (Walther Ruttmann)

In 1927, Walther Ruttmann shot his majestic documentary Berlin. Symphony of a City. In September of that same year, this milestone of the silent film era was premiered at Berlin′s Tauentzien Palast with a specially composed live soundtrack. Seventy-five years later, Berlin is in the midst of a uniquely vibrant and exciting transition. Ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the re-energized drive of history is bringing forth a new city. People from all over the world and from all walks of life are coming together to form a new metropolis, one reminiscent in many ways of 1920s Berlin.

While retaining some of the original′s basic dramatic principles and characteristics -organizing every shot in the film according to a symphonic structure, depicting one day in the life of the city using several main themes, and shooting on black-and-white 35 mm film - this remake also strives to establish its own cohesive pictorial language and narrative structure.

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH